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State recount rule challenged

Some months back, the state of Florida declared that recounts of electronic ballots were not needed. Logically, this makes sense, since there is nothing to physically recount with an electronic ballot. But that lack of anything solid to recount is opne of the underlying problems of electronic voting.

Simply put, the state has been using computerized lottery machines for years and years. You buy a ticket, you get a paper copy with your numbers. Simple. Foolproof. Tested. Proven.

Unfortunately, with e-voting, unlike the lottery, the state has decided that the overwhelming infallibility of computers is such that no paper printout is needed. No paper printout equals nothing to recount equals huge potential for fraud and catastrophe:

Voting rights groups sued Florida election administrators on Wednesday to overturn a rule that prohibits manual recounting of ballots cast with touch-screen machines, a lawsuit with echoes of the state's disputed 2000 presidential election voting.

The lawsuit said the rule was ``illogical'' and rested on the questionable assumption that electronic voting machines perform flawlessly 100 percent of the time. It also said the rule violated a Florida law that expressly requires manual recounts of certain ballots if the margin in an election is less than 0.25 percent of the votes cast.

Seems pretty sensible, but here’s the state’s contention:

The state Division of Elections maintains that manual recounts are not necessary for touchscreen machines because voter intent is never in doubt. "They don't allow you to overvote," said department spokeswoman Nicole de Lara.

But the machines do allow undervotes, when a ballot includes votes for some offices but not others. During a special election in South Florida earlier this year, some ballots were cast with no votes, even though only one office was on the ballot.

Because state law says the purpose of a recount is to determine whether there was a "clear indication on the ballot that the voter has made a definite choice," there is no need to review touchscreen ballots, former Elections Director Ed Kast wrote in a letter to elections supervisors in April.

It is impossible to vote for too many candidates on a touchscreen ballot, and Kast said a "review of undervotes cannot result in a determination of voter intent as required by" Florida law.

Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning said he agrees with the state's position.

"In Florida law you only recount overvotes and undervotes and you can do that on a paper ballot," he said. "There's no overvotes because the system prohibits overvotes. On an undervote, there's no vote, so how do you manually recount something that doesn't exist?"

Orwellian, but under state law, Browning may well be correct. The law only calls for a recount of ballots that were not counted in the first place - undervotes and overvotes. Without a paper trail, there is no way to determine the intent of the voter, thus there truly is nothing to recount.

That’s one of many reasons we need a paper trail. A voter will get a receipt, check it for accuracy, and deposit it into a traditional ballot box. These receipts can then be used to audit the accuracy of the computerized voting machines and to do a manual recount where necessary.

"The question is, are we going to follow the law?" Gonzalez said. "It is not our desire to dictate to the secretary of state how she upholds the law. We know there are a variety of options available to do this."

In January, a state House race in Broward and Palm Beach counties was decided by 12 votes, but 137 ballots did not have any votes.

Democrats have pushed for a paper trail for all touchscreen machines but have failed to win support among Republicans. Florida Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Graham filed legislation requiring a paper backup by the November election, but the bill has stalled.

If you want a paper trail for your vote, request an absentee ballot from your county supervisor of elections.